Feat every level...

[genshou]

We are still early into the campaign, around upper 3rd level now. So far it has been very nice getting a feat every level. You can take some feats you might not have otherwise taken or felt like you needed to pass up. In many ways I think this actually lets you do things to really fit in with the character you are trying to develop. So, early in the campaign now, but I am really liking how it is working. I will most likely use the house rule of a feat every level in future campaigns I run.

This is also why I believe it is not necessary to give the Fighter extra bonus feats. They get the same amount and what they actually get from their class remains as "balanced" as it ever was compared to the other classes. The Fighter can use their bonus feats to gain a significant number of feats to reflect their combat styles, and if they want even more mastery, they get a wealth of extra character feats. A good Fighter will end up gaining a lot of feats they otherwise would not have (such as Iron Will or Toughness [perhaps even multiple times]).

 

[Crothian]

dont know if anyone has suggested this, but if you give out a feat every level, why not give fighters a feat every level too?

that could help them maintain a higher number of feats than the other classes

you don't need to give them extra feats, they will always have more feats then the other classes.

 

[Emongnome]

For those that use this house rule (or even one feat for every odd level), how has this worked with respect to balance across the board? Do the characters have an easier time surviving in general? I guess I'm asking as I've been intrigued with upping the feat progression for some time, but my group wouldn't go for it, I don't think. Granted, I've house ruled a change to how metamagic works, but very few of them play spellcasters, so they either didn't notice or didn't care. Anyways, If the party's treasure stayed around the "proper" levels (as defined in the 3.5 DMG), do the extra feats actually beef up the characters so much that you have to throw out CR's or does it not make a difference?

 

[Crothian]

For those that use this house rule (or even one feat for every odd level), how has this worked with respect to balance across the board? Do the characters have an easier time surviving in general?

THis will depend on what feats they are taking. Ironwolf who plays in this game has taken great fortidue and Improved Toughness. He will be living longer. The wizard has taken Improved Pentration, that feat will be useful at higher levels when they come into opposition of creatures with SR but so far we haven't fought any with SR.

But I'm not prepping the games assuming they can handle more. I look at their level and prepare for their level. I do modify things based on what is being played ie no encounters that need a druid to succeed since they don't have a druid.

 

[Felnar]

you don't need to give them extra feats, they will always have more feats then the other classes.

sure they have more, but they wouldnt have as high of a percent more
just a thought for maintaining class balance

 

[Crothian]

sure they have more, but they wouldnt have as high of a percent more
just a thought for maintaining class balance

I feel that 5 more feats is still five more feats no matter how many feats everyone gets. Percentage of extra feats is over thinking it.

 

[Quickleaf]

For those that use this house rule (or even one feat for every odd level), how has this worked with respect to balance across the board? Do the characters have an easier time surviving in general? I guess I'm asking as I've been intrigued with upping the feat progression for some time, but my group wouldn't go for it, I don't think. Granted, I've house ruled a change to how metamagic works, but very few of them play spellcasters, so they either didn't notice or didn't care. Anyways, If the party's treasure stayed around the "proper" levels (as defined in the 3.5 DMG), do the extra feats actually beef up the characters so much that you have to throw out CR's or does it not make a difference?

I've pretty much switched to a version of D&D which is for all intensive purposes True20 (with some minor tweaks). In this system a character starts with 4 feats (5 if they're a warrior-type), and gains one feat every level they advance. In addition, most character backgrounds provide a bonus feat. Here is some feedback my group gave me:

* Provides freshness to gaining a character level. Makes me think more about what I've done and how to simulate that with a feat rather than being gamist and taking the "most logical" feat. Also, I feel more freedom to do this because I have more feats overall.

* I really like the inclusion of your social feats. I wouldn't take them in standard D&D, but with more feats I'm glad to take feats I normally wouldn't. The additions from True20 really stand out - I like the revised metamagic system.

* At first I was worried our PCs would get uber-powerful and we'd crush everything. Seeing how you've done the same for our NPC opponents though, and how we've been taking a lot of "role-playing" feats instead of "roll-playing" ones, it's worked really well. With your introduction of lots of house ruled feats, if anything the intensity level of the game has gone up. Often opposition is so tough, I dread using my assessment feat.

 

[Shadeus]

This is an interesting thread. I'm curious how it's playing out at higher levels though. The two pitfalls I see are: 1) qualifying for PrCs too early or 2) having too many feats.

There are some PrCs that use feats as the "buy in." You have to take skill focus: bald-head rubbing to qualify. Hmm, the more I think about this one, the less I'm convincing myself. I remember invisible blade was tough to qualify for by 5th-level unless you had a human rogue (or multiclassed to fighter). Frenzied berserker was another one.

The other concern I had was 12th-level plus fighters. Great. I'm level 18 now and you are down to weapon specialization (net) as the only feat left! I guess you have more versitility with your fighter because you can get multiple weapon specializations. Do you have other high level feats that you add to the game to make it attractive to high-levels fighters?

 

[Aus_Snow]

This is an interesting thread. I'm curious how it's playing out at higher levels though. The two pitfalls I see are: 1) qualifying for PrCs too early or 2) having too many feats.

There are some PrCs that use feats as the "buy in." You have to take skill focus: bald-head rubbing to qualify. Hmm, the more I think about this one, the less I'm convincing myself. I remember invisible blade was tough to qualify for by 5th-level unless you had a human rogue (or multiclassed to fighter). Frenzied berserker was another one.

The other concern I had was 12th-level plus fighters. Great. I'm level 18 now and you are down to weapon specialization (net) as the only feat left! I guess you have more versitility with your fighter because you can get multiple weapon specializations. Do you have other high level feats that you add to the game to make it attractive to high-levels fighters?

No high-level character has had the chance to reap the benefits of the particular newish variant of mine (a feat at 1st, 3rd, 5th etc. rather than at 1st, 3rd, 6th etc.), so I can't say yet how that'll pan out.

But as for fighters, there are a lot of sources of feats out there (of which I own too many it seems, if my inability to find them at times is anything to go by ).

But if there aren't enough, or if high levels might still be a problem, I think there are links to some high-level fighter feats in the 'sticky' Feats thread near the top of this forum. Also, I believe a couple of e-publishers have released products along these lines.. (?)

 

[Crothian]

There are some PrCs that use feats as the "buy in." You have to take skill focus: bald-head rubbing to qualify. Hmm, the more I think about this one, the less I'm convincing myself. I remember invisible blade was tough to qualify for by 5th-level unless you had a human rogue (or multiclassed to fighter). Frenzied berserker was another one.

Doesn't bother me. If they qualify for a prestige class a level or two earlier that's okay, but moist of the classes have BAB or skill ranks so a minimium level is built into the requirements.

The other concern I had was 12th-level plus fighters. Great. I'm level 18 now and you are down to weapon specialization (net) as the only feat left! I guess you have more versitility with your fighter because you can get multiple weapon specializations. Do you have other high level feats that you add to the game to make it attractive to high-levels fighters?

I'm not just using the core rules here. In fact, I've opened up my d20 library and told people to use what they want. That's a lot of books. So, there are plenty of feat choices from all over the place and that includes good ones for the high level fighter.